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> Unless you haven't been paying attention, the most recent IPCC report basically says, "We're fucked, its gonna happen now no matter what." Yes, the IPCC is f

> Unless you haven't been paying attention, the most recent IPCC report basically says, "We're fucked, its gonna happen now no matter what." Yes, the IPCC is finally coming around to using the words irreversible and abrupt in their assessments. > You can play with the current IPCC model, change where the clouds form, and get an ice age. I don't recall seeing any mention of a potential pathway to an ice age in any IPCC report or any recent paper from a peer reviewed journal. Are you saying that there is at least one IPCC contributor who will admit that the models are so uncertain that we don't know whether to expect an ice age instead of catastrophic warming? > weaponize anxiety to encourage action A reasonable way to encourage action when nothing has been working. People are going even further than attempting to appeal to emotion, they're actually blocking streets and engaging in civil disobedience. That's because people still believe there's hope for themselves and / or their children and they care to attempt to push for the best outcome possible. > "Being scared" and "being anxious" isn't productive It absolutely can be. Sometimes you need a good amount of fear or anxiety to kick you in the ass and cause you to act. That's how most of my writing in high school got done as I didn't do anything until the panic set in. It's not ideal, but again...nothing else has been working. > what I see as fear mongering headlines and articles trying to steer resources to one and only one cause How many causes are as important as the preservation of habitat for homo sapiens? I don't think very many people share your "No big deal, ... look forward to seeing what the new apex predator looks like" point of view.

zsz 5y ago
I am responding to the assertion that "sometimes you need a good amount of fear or anxiety to kick you in the ass..." This supposition is not merely factually false, but is actually dangerously harmful, especially to one's mental (but also physical) health. First, what's important to realize is, when you say it can be positive, you are thinking of incidental stressors. But that's not the case here. The sort of fear/anxiety that occurs is constant and long term, rather than incidental (e.g. worrying about something abstract, rather than fleeing from a predator). Indeed, incidental stress can be / often is productive. However, it differs fundamentally from anxiety, which is considered a mental disorder that results among others when fear / mental stress become long term / constant (such as when worrying about an abstract notion that has no direct effect on one's situational survival). Anxiety adversely affects the amygdala and hippocampus, in particular. It causes a growth in the former, which results in intensified bodily responses to anxiety; so in that sense, it acts as a positive feedback loop that worsens the effects of anxiety as time goes on. At the same time, long term effects result in the hippocampus shrinking, which reduces a person's ability to form long term memories, or contextualize emotional responses. Needless to say, that in itself severely curtails the ability to reason on a higher level.
- tejohnso 5y ago
  This is an interesting dilemma, and I am aware that people are now seeking professional help for climate anxiety and that it can be a serious problem in some cases. However, I don't think this is a valid reason to discourage climate emergency headlines because the overall harm that is caused by our climate related activity is significantly higher than harm caused by anxiety. Without bringing serious, alarming attention to the issue, there's no way it will be addressed. I don't condone denial. But to the previous poster's point, if the situation has completely gotten away from us, then there's no point in suffering the anxiety because there's nothing to be done but await the end times. However, most people aren't on board with the hopeless abandon mindset at this time. Like so many other aspects of this problem, there's no easy solution, and it's complicated. I think the same could be said of our COVID response. Absolutely caused constant anxiety. And it was absolutely necessary. And it did encourage beneficial behaviour. The alternative is ignorance and more death.

zsz 5y ago

I am responding to the assertion that "sometimes you need a good amount of fear or anxiety to kick you in the ass..." This supposition is not merely factually false, but is actually dangerously harmful, especially to one's mental (but also physical) health. First, what's important to realize is, when you say it can be positive, you are thinking of incidental stressors. But that's not the case here. The sort of fear/anxiety that occurs is constant and long term, rather than incidental (e.g. worrying about something abstract, rather than fleeing from a predator). Indeed, incidental stress can be / often is productive. However, it differs fundamentally from anxiety, which is considered a mental disorder that results among others when fear / mental stress become long term / constant (such as when worrying about an abstract notion that has no direct effect on one's situational survival). Anxiety adversely affects the amygdala and hippocampus, in particular. It causes a growth in the former, which results in intensified bodily responses to anxiety; so in that sense, it acts as a positive feedback loop that worsens the effects of anxiety as time goes on. At the same time, long term effects result in the hippocampus shrinking, which reduces a person's ability to form long term memories, or contextualize emotional responses. Needless to say, that in itself severely curtails the ability to reason on a higher level.

tejohnso 5y ago
This is an interesting dilemma, and I am aware that people are now seeking professional help for climate anxiety and that it can be a serious problem in some cases. However, I don't think this is a valid reason to discourage climate emergency headlines because the overall harm that is caused by our climate related activity is significantly higher than harm caused by anxiety. Without bringing serious, alarming attention to the issue, there's no way it will be addressed. I don't condone denial. But to the previous poster's point, if the situation has completely gotten away from us, then there's no point in suffering the anxiety because there's nothing to be done but await the end times. However, most people aren't on board with the hopeless abandon mindset at this time. Like so many other aspects of this problem, there's no easy solution, and it's complicated. I think the same could be said of our COVID response. Absolutely caused constant anxiety. And it was absolutely necessary. And it did encourage beneficial behaviour. The alternative is ignorance and more death.